Turan started his professional career around 1970s. from 1969 to 1978. In-between, he was a sportswriter in 1971, and by 1976 became a feature writer. In 1993, he was named the director of the
Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. Around 2000, Turan joined the
NPR to cover the
Cannes Film Festival for them. After several years at NPR, he joined NPR's
Morning Edition as a film critic. and serves on the board of directors of the
Yiddish Book Center. Turan announced his retirement from
The Los Angeles Times on March 25, 2020. The last film he reviewed was the German film
Balloon (2018). Turan is featured in the documentary
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (2009) discussing his public quarrel with film director
James Cameron, who e-mailed the
Los Angeles Times editors calling for Turan to be fired after he wrote a scathing review of
Titanic (1997). Cameron accused Turan of an "incessant rain of personal barbs" and using his "bully pulpit not only to attack my film, but the entire film industry and its audiences". ==Publications==